This could be the biggest threat to your stocks
(MSN Money, June 11. 2015)
Illegal trading is not the only way in which insiders sometimes take advantage of outsiders. Executives frequently manipulate the content and timing of corporate news to increase the value of their stocks and options, recent studies have found. More

CEO succession: The real ‘Game of Thrones’
(Huffington Post, June 29, 2015)
If succession is one of the most complex and far-reaching transitions any organization faces, it is also 100 percent inevitable. Eventually, every CEO needs to be replaced. Despite this certainty, companies consistently struggle to plan and execute smooth successions. More

Earth’s oxygen levels can affect its climate
(Smithsonian, June 11, 2015)
Earth has a surprising new player in the climate game: oxygen. Even though oxygen is not a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, its concentration in our atmosphere can affect how much sunlight reaches the ground, and new models suggest that effect has altered climate in the past. More

Survey: 22% of female students at Michigan sexually assaulted
(Inside Higher Ed, June 25, 2015)
More than 22 percent of female undergraduate students responding to a survey at the University of Michigan say they have experienced some type of sexual assault, the university announced Wednesday. The findings echo that of the often cited, though also often criticized, 2007 study that concluded one in five female students were sexually assaulted while in college. A new national survey released by The Washington Post last week also reached the same conclusion.  More

U-M president: It’s time we talk openly about sexual misconduct
(Washington Post, June 24, 2015)
This viewpoint from the University of Michigan’s president comes as the prestigious public flagship is releasing data from a survey of its students about sexual misconduct: I am a university president, a physician-scientist, an educator and a father. The issue of sexual misconduct at the University of Michigan, and at all of our nation’s campuses, keeps me awake at night. I feel personally responsible for the safety of all students at U-M. This year, U-M committed to a thorough, transparent and honest self-examination to assess the problem of sexual misconduct that affects our students. More

U-M president heading to China
(Detroit Free Press, June 22, 2015)
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel will head to China early next month to visit universities and meet with alumni. It will be the first overseas for Schlissel since he became president. “China will continue to have a major impact on the world, and there is intense interest in the country among our students and faculty,” Schlissel said in a written statement. China, he said, is “an excellent place from which to attract academic talent and establish the mutually valuable partnerships that U-M needs to remain a world-leading research institution.” The University’s ties to China go back to James B. Angell, who in 1880-81 took leave as the University’s president to serve as the American ambassador — then known as the U.S. minister — to China. Angell later played a key role in creating scholarship programs for Chinese students to study in the United States. More

U-M Regents approve $153.6M athletic budget after department loses $7.9M last year
(The Ann Arbor News, June 18, 2015)
The University of Michigan’s athletic department lost $7.9 million during the last fiscal year, a loss that was realized because of payouts to high-earning officials, and a vast drop-off in ticket sales. It was the first year since 2001 that the department had a deficit.  According to the department’s 2016 fiscal year budget proposal, presented by U-M’s Interim Athletic Director Jim Hackett, the department would have had a surplus if it had not been for the perfect storm of low football ticket sales, the severance agreement made with former director Dave Brandon, and the mandatory payout to fired coach Brady Hoke. Brandon and Hoke each received $3 million buyouts. More

Concerns over Great Lakes rise to new levels
(Detroit Free Press, June 22, 2015)
With one fifth of the world’s fresh water supply on its borders, Michigan is in a league of its own. With things like aging oil pipelines, horizontal fracking, Asian carp, and water runoff from crops, there are lots of reasons to pay more attention. Concern about water was raised at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s conference on Mackinac Island. Attendees taking the ferry to Mackinac Island were greeted by a peaceful demonstration arranged by activists carrying banners expressing concern over Enbridge’s Pipeline 5 which runs under the Mackinac Straits. More

American universities: Reclaiming our role in society
(The Conversation, June 1, 2015)
American universities are facing a crisis of relevance, according to U-M Professor Andrew Hoffman.  In the following editorial for The Conversation, he writes: There is, quite simply, a growing tension between the university’s internal cultures and its role within society. But the good news is that a growing number of us academics are taking this issue head on, exploring a broader range of models for what it means to be a scholar within society, and challenging old models that stand in the way of such progress. More